


Lotto

by Knave_of_Hearts, LunaSol_14



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Lotto (Music Video), Angst, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Crimes & Criminals, Drama, Drinking, Drugs, Fight Club - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Inspired by Music, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Character Death, OT9 - Freeform, Organized Crime, Past Abuse, Romance, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Violence, holy fuck I forgot to add the angst tag, the author is bad at tagging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-01-28 06:18:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12600152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knave_of_Hearts/pseuds/Knave_of_Hearts, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaSol_14/pseuds/LunaSol_14
Summary: While working as a bartender in one of Seoul's most exclusive clubs, Kim Minseok finds his latest subject of note: a cynical prostitute named Kim Jongdae. When he sees Jongdae crying alone in an alleyway, it sparks something more than a simple, harmless interest in a co-worker. And Minseok likes it.Hopefully he doesn't forget what killed the cat.





	1. Prologue: I Look Back

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is my first fic, so any kudos, advice and constructive criticism is welcome. This story is heavily inspired by the Lotto MV, and some of the storyline is identical to the plot of the MV. Please stick around until the end and any feedback is appreciated!

**JANUARY 17TH, 1998**

Kim Jongdae lived a relatively normal life.

Well, for a five year old, anyways.

Every morning he would wake up to the sound of birds chirping and the smell of delicious stew. He always had a cat-like grin on his face no matter what. His father would laugh loudly as he made cute faces at his mother to avoid eating bitter melon, and his mother would coo at everything he did.

He was sweet, clever, and everything a five year old should be. He had everything a five year old should have. He was the epitome of happiness.

Until one day.

One fateful, bitter, January winter day.

It was a day like any other. He gently rose from his bed, ate his breakfast without needing to be told, went to school and smiled as he received praises from his teachers and friends.

It all changed when he came home.

Or, to be more precise, it all changed in one moment.

He stood by his mother, holding some of her groceries like the good child he was.

There were sounds coming from behind their apartment door. Even from Jongdae’s limited knowledge, he knew that it couldn’t be good thing.

There was yelling. Loud noises. And screaming.

He saw the panic in his mother’s eyes. She dug into her pocket and turned the key into the lock, flinging open the door.

It was the sight behind the door that changed his life forever.

His father’s lips had once gently kissed him on the cheek, and whispered words of love and affection to him.

Now those very lips were slightly parted, quivering and stained with blood.

There was a man standing over his father, a knife in one hand, and an unfamiliar object in the other.

He was stained with blood too.

Jongdae could feel his whole entire body shaking. Beside him, his mother dropped to her knees, trying to hold back a scream.

The man turned around.

He was a stranger. Strangers were bad, he thought, reminiscing on what his father had once said.

His father, who was now lying dead on the ground.

The man looked surprised at their arrival.

Jongdae didn’t know what was going on.

The man turn around and pointed the unfamiliar object at his mother.

It was weird-looking. Almost stick-like, but shiny, and black.

It made a clicking sound.

His mother was shaking on the spot. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.

Jongdae was frozen. His limbs wouldn’t listen to him. He struggled to take in what was in front of his eyes.

“What did you do to him! Why are you - “

Bang.

The object made a loud noise. It hurt his ears.

His mother screamed beside him.

And then she fell.

Bang.

Blood was coming out of her mouth as she fell to the floor.

Bang.

Jongdae just wanted it to stop. The noises. His parents lying on the floor. Why weren’t they getting up?

He covered his ears.

Bang.

The life faded from his mother’s eyes.

The whole world stood still, as if waiting for him to make the next decision.

The stranger walked over to him, a twisted smile on his face. Jongdae wanted to run away and hide in his mother’s loving arms, but those arms were steadily turning cold and stiff.

The strange man came to a halt in front of him and stared at him right in the eyes. He smirked and with a voice all too slow began to speak.

“Hello, kid.”

Jongdae could feel his legs quivering in fear as he backed up against a wall. He willed himself to wake up from this dream, but it was all too real.

The man cocked his head to one side.

“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing, hiding away from me?”

He took a few steps toward him and knelt down.

“It’s pretty unfortunate what happened to your parents there, don’t you think?” He said, glancing at the knife he still held in his left hand. “I wonder, what will happen to a little kitty like you?”

Jongdae could feel the stranger’s rank breath on his face. He could feel tears trailing down his cheek.

The strange man’s grin spread even wider. “Aw, little kitty, don’t cry.” His eyes held something sinister, something unpredictable, “I’ll be taking very good care of you from now on.”

Jongdae didn’t understand. Those words were meant to be words of love and care, but why were they giving him such a bad feeling?

What happened to his parents?

Are they dead?

Jongdae had seen a dead dog on the sidewalk once. It had been hit by a car as it attempted to cross the busy streets of Seoul. His father had covered his eyes, not wanting him to witness something so gruesome.

Are his parents like that too, lying dead and unmoving on the ground? Their bodies steadily turning cold? Blood pooling around their lifeless forms?

He was pulled out of his thoughts as the man grabbed him on the arm with a grip so hard that it would leave bruises later.

Something snapped inside him at that moment.

All his life, he had been surrounded by kindness. His parents had given him their everything, and everyone loved him and praised him for his actions. He felt something that he never needed to feel before.

Anger.

Anger at this strange man who had hurt his parents.

He wanted to hurt him back.

His body moved before he could think. In a split second, the man was on the ground, clutching at his middle and groaning in pain.

And then he did what he should’ve done at the beginning of all this.

He ran.

But not for long. There were more strange men at the door, all dressed in black and holding objects similar to the one that the man used to kill his mother.

All the strange men turned around, surprised at his arrival.

“Stop that kid!”

One of the men grabbed him by the arm. He tried to get away. He had to keep on running.

The man from before came around the corner, and now, instead of looking sly, he looked angry.

“That little shit...He’s just like his father. Running away when he couldn’t fulfill what was promised.”

 _What had his father done?_ Jongdae wondered. _What did this man mean when he said that he was just like his father?_

“What do we do with him?”

“I would kill him…but there are debts that need to be payed. His father owed a great deal to us. Perhaps he will pay the debt in his deed,” the man said, the sinister tone creeping back into his voice, “Take him to the van.”

“He’s gonna resist too much. Should we tranq him?”

“Yeah, do it.”

Jongdae was scared. “Tranq”? What did that mean? And where is he going? Are his parents okay?

Is his life ever going to be normal again?

Suddenly, he felt a sharp stab of a pain in his shoulder before the numbness spread to the rest of his body. His vision began to get dark. He felt sleepy.

How nice would it be to just let everything go.

But he couldn’t. He had to know if his parents were alright.

Everything was blending together into a swirl of colours. He could no longer make out shapes. Everything turned hazy.

His last thought was of his mother’s smiles and his father’s comforting touches before he fell in the welcoming arms of darkness.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 1: Just Passing By

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amidst the cruel world Jongdae has endured for the past 12 years, someone new enters his life. This someone might change everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this took 5 MONTHS to update ;-; A lot of shit happened, and I lost motivation at one point to write the story and didn’t pick it up for 3 months. Here’s chapter 1, please stick around till the end! Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments <3

  
**12 YEARS LATER**

Kim Jongdae was really fucking pissed.

He felt sore all over and there was a horrible pounding in his skull, making him wince in pain. Reaching over, he picked up his phone.

2:53pm, it read, the numbers glaring at him from the screen.

He groaned, the night before flashing back to him.

The customer he had was pretty typical. Old, married, ugly, and had a bank account fatter than himself. Except this one was particularly nasty. He came in, and grabbed Jongdae by the throat and shoved him into the wall with a speed that was unusual for a man of his size. Then he fucked him raw, no prep, no warning.

Wincing, he sat up, shivering in the cold. He felt nasty and really needed a shower.

Making his way into the small tub, he stepped in, legs trembling slightly. He breathed a small sigh of relief as the hot water hit his back and soothed the bruises littering his pale skin.

Benefits of being a prostitute in a high-end club, he mused silently as he scrubbed soap over his arms. He could be in a brothel somewhere, where they barely have a meal, let alone a shower. He should be grateful that his skin wasn’t covered in burns from being used as an ashtray.

He knows. He’s seen it all.  
  
He trembles as he remembers the prostitutes, eyes wide and broken. He had visited the brothel on a “field trip”, escorted through rooms that stank of sex and filth, with the workers themselves not much better.

Near the end of the trip, he had been brought to the back alley. That had been the main purpose for the trip. That had been the worst part.

Two large black trash bags sat beside the door. “Take a look” the man beside him had smiled. So Jongdae undid the trash bag and looked inside. He didn't have a choice, anyways.

He stumbled backwards, trembling and weak, wondering if he just pissed his pants.

Inside the bag was a mess of red and pink. Body parts. Human body parts, minced into bite sized pieces. He fell over and threw up until he was dry heaving.

“Any guess who they might be?” Asked the man, still smiling brightly. Jongdae felt a cold shiver run up and down his spine. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

He had recognized the eye floating atop the pool of blood. He saw identical eyes at the club and back at the brothel every single day. Wide and broken.

Jongdae couldn't think straight. He opened his mouth but he couldn't find his voice. “Ah… no… that's…” His sentences trailed off meaninglessly. _You're fucked up!_ He wanted to scream. _You can't do this!_

But they could. And they did it to every prostitute, sooner or later.

“Answer me you little slut!”

Jongdae responded meekly, scared by the sickening mess.

“It's… the prostitutes…”

“Good job” the man smiled. “That's how your parents were disposed of. It's also your future if you don't behave with your customers, okay?”

Years later, Jongdae still felt cold when he thought of that trip. The prostitutes all ended up in the same place. He had no release, desecrated even in death.

The warmth of the water washes over his body, making him relax a little. _What did he have to do today?_

2 customers tonight, an hour each. He winces internally, as hour-long sessions were painful. _Was that all he had for today?_

He digs around his brain, the steam making everything a little fuzzy.

Oh yeah, there was a new hire coming in today. A new bartender, replacing the last one who mixed the wrong drink for someone very important. He didn’t meet a very pretty end.

Jongdae never liked the guy, anyways. He always looked on edge, twitching, as if everything was out to get him. He just hoped this one was at least mildly interesting. The one before the last one had actually exchanged a few words with him, but most of them were just dull.

He’s seen a lot of them come and go over the years. He smirks, wondering how long this one will stay.

* * *

 

 

He slammed open the door to his small room, wanting nothing more than to murder someone. Sadly, the universe seemed to hate him, his calendar falling from where it was hanging by a rusty nail on the wall.

Not like the universe has done much for him anyways.

Killing his parents when he was 5, treated like a slave until 13, and forced into prostitution?

But it was fine, he supposed. He had come to terms with it all a long time ago. Perhaps the universe gave a shitty life to him for being a shitty person.

He had stopped counting the days and waiting for someone to save him. Everything was a blur at this point.

Cursing under his breath, he bent down to pick up the tattered pages of the crumpled calendar, quickly flipping to the correct date.

He didn’t even know why he had a calendar, honestly. It was mostly to record his schedule on, but Jongdae could memorize it pretty well. Plus, he didn’t need to see everything horrible in his life in front of his face every time he looked up from his books.

Flipping to January, his eyes searched the page. He stumbled a little as he saw it.

_January 17th._

_Fuck._

* * *

 

_Okay, maybe not all of it._

He stumbled into an alleyway, barely registering where he was, his vision blurred by tears.

Fuck, why was he still crying over it? It happened thirteen years ago! He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to count the years that slipped by since that day - The day everything changed...

He should’ve moved on by now, instead of being so weak. This life should’ve made him emotionless, able to deflect everything that was aimed at him.

Yet he still can’t let go.

He could remember bits of it. The blood. The gunshots, which he didn’t understand back then. He could remember the man who took him. The same man was probably looking for him by now, since he was going to be late for his next client. But Jongdae really didn’t give a shit.

His mother, whose sweet smiles could light up the room. His father, who was wise and caring, and always spoke to him in a soft, soothing voice, like they had all the time in the world.

They didn’t.

Once, when Jongdae was 9, he accidentally broke a plate while washing dishes. That resulted in a myriad of burns from a burning hot spatula before being sent to his tiny, cramped room without food. Overcome with fury, he demanded to know why all this was happening. Why he was being forced to live a life of pain and abuse.

The man who took him sneered in his face, but told him everything anyways.

His father had borrowed money from the man who killed him. When he couldn’t pay it back long past the day he was supposed to, they killed him.

“ _Where do you think all your toys came from, huh? Your father was an idiot. He had no money of his own, and he used up all of his parents’ money too. He was useless at everything. I heard your mother only married him ‘cause he was rich, you know. She was planning on leaving him, that bitch told me so herself.”_

“ _Stop it!”_ He had screamed, not wanting to believe what the man said. He was a liar, a good for nothing liar who killed his parents. He couldn’t have been telling the truth.

_Right?_

Oh, how the truth hurts. Jongdae failed to see it as a 5 year old kid, but he sees it now.

His parents were nothing but an imbecile and a gold-digging whore.

He grew to despise them for what they’d done.

Collapsing on the floor, he breathed ragged breaths, desperately trying to calm himself down with little success.

 _They didn’t love you,_ the voice in his head taunts, _no one ever loved you. And no one will. Look at you. How can anyone ever love someone like you? You’re useless. You’re nothing. You should just-_

“Hey.”

A smooth voice snaps him out of his thoughts. Dazed, he looks up only to inhale a sharp gasp of breath at the man before him.

His eyes were dark and cat-like, with an almost unsettling confidence in them. The gentle line of his jaw suggested softness, which was rounded out by smooth cheeks, hinting at a bit of a baby face.

He was gorgeous.

Jongdae knew a handsome man when he saw one, and he also knew that a man like him didn’t belong on these streets. Someone as pretty as him should be hanging around in expensive clubs with rich older men who would buy him anything if he said the word.

But then, the man said the three words that he had been desperately wishing to hear for such a long time. The words no one ever cared to say to someone like him.

“Are you okay?”

* * *

 

Kim Minseok was, by no means, a rich man. He knew he shouldn’t be hanging around places like these, whether as a customer or a seller. He’s always stayed clean of this life that so many others have succumbed to, drinking their responsibilities away late into the night, grinding against mindless bodies instead of being with someone they truly love.

After all, even he wanted that precious gem called happiness. Or was it love? Or were they one and the same?

In the darkest part of Seoul, one would never find such things. Instead, there were pale imitations, crafted from money and illegal deals. A reflection of love warped into lust and greed, eating away at whatever honour you had left as a human being.

A place that once entered, could never be left. Like stepping over the edge of a cliff, you could only fall deeper and deeper into rotten depravity. Prostitutes, gangs, drugs. This is where they thrived.

A smart man would not walk in willingly.

Kim Minseok wasn't part of a gang, didn't do drugs, and sure as hell wasn't a prostitute. His dreams had nothing to do with this place. He wasn't trying to change the black market.

So what does that leave? Is he perhaps a fool?

Well. Anyone who met his eyes would know that he was no naive boy, stumbling upon the witch's house.

So what was he doing here?

Well, simple. There’s really only one reason why anyone would come here.

Money.

Whether you’re looking to earn it or spend it, this is the place. There’s a billion different ways to spend it here, and plenty of ways to pay.

If you had the money and didn't mind trampling on innocent people, you could live like a king.

Here you could have any man or woman you wanted, however you liked. And if you went too far? This was a place where lives had set prices. The people here unwillingly weren't recognized as people.

The ‘lucky’ ones were treated like pet cats. One master to serve for all your days. Others, like cattle. Though really, cattle had more rights than the unlucky ones here.

You didn't care for sex? Have anything you want! Illegal delicacies, the strongest drugs, the most beautiful possessions.

As long as you had money.

But this place was hollow, like a house of cards. Money was the only thing holding it up. Well, that and rich men bored of their wives. Everyone working here had the same empty, soulless eyes.  
Any happiness created by the sex, the drugs, was only temporary. It wasn’t real. It only shields you from the pain of reality for a moment before it shatters, making you face it all over again.

Minseok wasn’t about this kind of life. He was only here because he was, well, desperate.

His own parents had become slaves to the drugs and alcohol, leaving him to fend for himself at the young age of 7 when they died of an overdose. With no living relatives left, he was sent to an orphanage, where he learned the ways of the world during his 13 year stay.

He learned that someone like him wasn’t fit to have dreams. His ambitions were too out of reach, too cliché to be real. An orphan like him should give themselves over to this life. According to them, he wasn’t really suitable for much else anyways.

But still, he persevered. In the small public school located beside his orphanage, he studied. He spent most of his teenage years studying (and playing soccer). He understood that a good education was the only way that he could ever get out of here and break free of the stereotypes. Unlike others who had given up, he worked hard. He fought tooth and nail for a good future.

But it wasn’t enough. He needed money, which the orphanage obviously wouldn’t give him. The university wouldn’t give it to him either, no matter how hard he studied. They didn’t believe someone with no parents could become a “thinker of the future”, they called it.

Oh, well. He’d just have to get a job then.

First, it was a job at a local coffee shop. Minseok always liked the smell of coffee and the coming and going of people. Plus, the career he was interested in was similar.

But it didn’t pay enough. So, he switched to bartending. It was a perfectly legal bar, where some white collar workers would come to have a drink after their long shifts were over. That paid better, but it still wasn’t enough to pay for several years of business school.

So here he is now.

On his way to a high class, sleek nightclub. The most exclusive one in all of Seoul. The very name of it invoked envy in people: _SM_. Only the richest of the rich were granted access. Despite being in business for only a couple years and having a very inconvenient location, it was by far the most popular nightclub in Seoul.

Minseok walked hurriedly past the cramped alleyways, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. He didn’t want see the empty eyes, void of emotion and filled with hatred instead. He didn’t want to see the same eyes his parents had before, when they were still alive.

He had no idea why he decided this was a good decision. This place represented everything he had vowed to stay away from.

When he was offered a position as a bartender at SM, his first thought was _hell no_. But then he heard the pay. The money earned from working an hour alone would be enough to cover his food for a week. Even though the job was a long shift from 6pm to 2am, it came with free drinks and a 15 minute break every 2 hours.

And the cons? Well, he’d be surrounded by everything that destroyed his life. But in this situation, the pros outweigh the cons by far. If he wanted to pay for his tuition, he’d have to take up this job.

And nothing bad will happen. Right? It’s __just 8 hours of mixing drinks, which he’s quite good at. There might be a few catcalls and creepy pick-up lines, but he’s used to it.

He's used to it.

The setting sun spills across the sky in brilliant colours. It reminds him of a rather unfortunate memory. That's right, it had been another early evening that day, hadn't it? On another day, working in a different club. His first month of working as a bartender, actually. Surrounded by alcohol, making pleasant conversation with a customer. Perhaps the drinks had intoxicated both of them.

To this day, Minseok didn't know what had prompted the customer to flirt with him. He remembers that the man had been attractive. It disgusts him now, that he thought such a person was handsome. Stylish, young, and with eyes like the night sky, Minseok had been flattered by him at the start.

But soon, the speech of the stylish man became crass and aggressive. His words were beginning to slur together so that Minseok could no longer understand what he was saying, only that it was rude. He tried to cut off the young man for the night.

That was when the man had reached across the bar, and pulled Minseok towards him. “Sure darling, we can continue the drinks at my place~” said the man, “I promise to treat you well. Ah, but don't blame me if you can't walk in the morning alright?”

He had pulled away immediately, trembling. In fear? In disgust? Both? Luckily, his manager had called security from across the club to escort the young man out. That night he had been barely able to smile as customers came and went.

Still, for months afterwards, he had carried a pocket knife on his keychain.

 _Yeah,_ he tells himself, _everything is going to be fine._

He had more experience now. He could deal with the unpleasant customers himself.

Just as he was thinking that, he heard faint sob coming from a nearby alleyway. Now, Minseok wasn’t the kind of guy to coo over cute videos of cats playing with yarn or babies rolling around. Having seen too many things in this world, he’s way past that. But for some reason, the sobs were so _heartbreaking_ , so _desperate_ , so _lost_. It reminded him of how the children at the orphanage cried when they were yelled at by the Sisters. The sound wounded him so badly, and it made him want to comfort whoever was hurting inside so much.

Sighing, he checked the time; 5:32pm. He’s still got plenty of time. He wanted to get there early after hearing that the owners didn’t tolerate disorder.

Turning into the alleyway, he walked towards the boy in timid steps. The boy was sitting with his back against the wall, his head in his hands, still sobbing quietly.

Not knowing how to approach the shaking boy and feeling a little awkward, he stopped about a foot away and bent down until he was at about eye level with him.

“Hey.” He said, his voice coming out confident and sure, unlike how he was feeling on the inside.

The boy looked up, and Minseok involuntarily let out a tiny gasp.

For starters, he was handsome. His face was rounded, but he had a sharp, defined jawline. The bridge of his nose cut a sleek profile. And those eyes, like an abyss, they seemed to glitter with all your secrets. His lips quirked up a bit at the edges, even though he was crying just a few moments before. Even with tears running down his face, he was beautiful.

How could someone like him be crying in a place like this? One look at his face, and Minseok already had the urge to protect him and keep him safe.

Minseok was lost for what to say. So without thinking, he blurted out the first thing on his mind.

“Are you okay?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LunaSol’s notes:  
> Again, sorry this took so long to update. I think I underestimated the dedication it takes to write a chapter, and I still think it’s a bit too short. Honestly, I’m not sure when the next chapter will be out, but I’ll try to finish the next chapter by the end of break. Thanks so much for 50+ kudos <3 Thanks for reading!
> 
> Knave_Of_Hearts’ notes:  
> Thanks for reading! I wonder if you like angst...

**Author's Note:**

> LunaSol’s notes -  
> Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the prologue. The prologue is a flashback to Jongdae’s childhood, and the rest of the story will take place when they are much older. The next chapter should be up soon! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Knave_of_Hearts' notes -  
> Hello readers! I'm glad you read this story! Leave a kudos or maybe a bookmark if you want to know what happens next. Thanks for reading!


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